Americans Say Families Need $85,000 to Get By

[Beet]

And this is why Bidens approval rating on the economy is like 25%.

[dead0man]

"get by" clearly means "keep up with everyone else spending too much on luxury items".

[politicallefty]

"get by" clearly means "keep up with everyone else spending too much on luxury items".

Or maybe not having the next emergency send a household into financial crisis.

[dead0man]

"get by" clearly means "keep up with everyone else spending too much on luxury items".

Or maybe not having the next emergency send a household into financial crisis.

if that was their worry, they'd spend their money better.  Americans, by and large, find a way to spend slightly more than they make, no matter how little or how much that is.  Are Americans making $120k/yr twice as far from an emergency as those making $60k?  I'd wager not.

Plus, American bankruptcy laws are very beneficial to those who utilize them.  Americans that suffer huge, unforeseen financial emergencies can easily get out of them.

[politicallefty]

"get by" clearly means "keep up with everyone else spending too much on luxury items".

Or maybe not having the next emergency send a household into financial crisis.

if that was their worry, they'd spend their money better.  Americans, by and large, find a way to spend slightly more than they make, no matter how little or how much that is.  Are Americans making $120k/yr twice as far from an emergency as those making $60k?  I'd wager not.

Plus, American bankruptcy laws are very beneficial to those who utilize them.  Americans that suffer huge, unforeseen financial emergencies can easily get out of them.

Median rent broke $2000/month last year. If the cost of housing came down, maybe we'd all be better off. Bankruptcy should be a last resort. That doesn't help anyone during their emergency. A hospital stay or a new transmission should not send anyone into bankruptcy.

[dead0man]

Median rent broke $2000/month last year. If the cost of housing came down, maybe we'd all be better off.

yet 98% of us (well, not "us", I don't vote that way, 98% of you people) keep voting for people who implement policies that keep that going

Bankruptcy should be a last resort.

sure, but it's also something people should be more than willing to take advantage of.  There should be no fear or stigma.

That doesn't help anyone during their emergency.

ok, but it can save them tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in the aftermath

A hospital stay or a new transmission should not send anyone into bankruptcy.

well obviously a transmission shouldn't and if it does, it was inevitable anyway.  And yes, in a country that spends as much as we do on healthcare shouldn't have those outcomes, but alas, we waste a lot of money.

A family of 4 can "get by" with far less than $85k/yr, as proof, the millions of American families doing it.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

In this competitive day and age, if you're not planning to raise well-travelled, socially adept, pentalingual, polymath prodigies that can code and play musical instruments, you simply aren't a serious parent.

[DaleCooper]

The cost of groceries is an inconvenience to most, not a crisis. The real crisis in this country is the cost of housing. It's one of the biggest issues facing this country (and, from what I can gather, other major industrialized nations as well) and it seems to largely be pushed aside in the greater political discussion. When you consider the median cost of housing in this country, $85k is probably what is needed to get by. I imagine those answering this aren't talking about just being able to scrape by and likely means being able to have sufficient leeway in the event of an emergency and not constantly struggling to make ends meet. A majority of Americans are one emergency away from their own crisis (think about an emergency room visit or a necessary car repair).

I've been saying this for a while now, but I'll say it again: The party that even so much as promises to resolve America's out-of-control cost of housing will win the biggest landslide since 1988. If they actually achieve any results, we could see a win like 1980. I really do think it's possible. 

I've never seen such an easy winning issue get ignored.

[Ferguson97]

The cost of groceries is an inconvenience to most, not a crisis. The real crisis in this country is the cost of housing. It's one of the biggest issues facing this country (and, from what I can gather, other major industrialized nations as well) and it seems to largely be pushed aside in the greater political discussion. When you consider the median cost of housing in this country, $85k is probably what is needed to get by. I imagine those answering this aren't talking about just being able to scrape by and likely means being able to have sufficient leeway in the event of an emergency and not constantly struggling to make ends meet. A majority of Americans are one emergency away from their own crisis (think about an emergency room visit or a necessary car repair).

I've been saying this for a while now, but I'll say it again: The party that even so much as promises to resolve America's out-of-control cost of housing will win the biggest landslide since 1988. If they actually achieve any results, we could see a win like 1980. I really do think it's possible. 

I've never seen such an easy winning issue get ignored.

I don't know how you can solve the housing crisis without pissing off suburban NIMBYs, which will prevent the party that solves it from getting a landslide win.

[DaleCooper]

The cost of groceries is an inconvenience to most, not a crisis. The real crisis in this country is the cost of housing. It's one of the biggest issues facing this country (and, from what I can gather, other major industrialized nations as well) and it seems to largely be pushed aside in the greater political discussion. When you consider the median cost of housing in this country, $85k is probably what is needed to get by. I imagine those answering this aren't talking about just being able to scrape by and likely means being able to have sufficient leeway in the event of an emergency and not constantly struggling to make ends meet. A majority of Americans are one emergency away from their own crisis (think about an emergency room visit or a necessary car repair).

I've been saying this for a while now, but I'll say it again: The party that even so much as promises to resolve America's out-of-control cost of housing will win the biggest landslide since 1988. If they actually achieve any results, we could see a win like 1980. I really do think it's possible. 

I've never seen such an easy winning issue get ignored.

I don't know how you can solve the housing crisis without pissing off suburban NIMBYs, which will prevent the party that solves it from getting a landslide win.

NIMBYs are a small and shrinking minority. From my admittedly anecdotal experience, many homeowners are concerned that their children and grandchildren will never be able to own a home.

[jamestroll]

people need to learn to budget their bills correctly.

[Illiniwek]

I got a new job last year that brought me from under that amount to over that amount. But things have gotten so expensive that we haven’t seen any greater amount of savings. It’s really frustrating.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Clearly, living in the countryside on $200 per week rent is not going to require the same compared to living in California.

[Xing]

Another thing I don’t see addressed in this thread: Why shouldn’t the average person be able to live well? Why are our standards so low that we’re supposed to see people just barely staying afloat as a good or noble goal? Should people treating themselves every now and then or going on a vacation really be considered a “luxury” instead of a reasonable expectation for the quality of life in the supposedly “richest country in the history of the world”?

[GregTheGreat657]

Biden's America

This is actually something that's been happening for years before Biden, and it's probably why Trump is not going to get the credit he thinks he deserves on the economy. Most people I know under the age of about 35 or 40 gave up hope on having any kind of economic stability during the Trump administration or even earlier. It was actually under Trump that the cost of living exploded out of control to the point of being untenable. It was before COVID that a lot of people lost hope on home ownership, and then of course it got worse in 2020. I don't really care about groceries costing more, I care about having to make 60% more than the median household income in my area just to afford a house that isn't dilapidated. The right has no answer to this and it's why they will continue to fail.

Given the populist direction of the right, the best solution would be to go after corporations such as Blackrock who buying up houses en masse at well over the asking price.

[DaleCooper]

Biden's America

This is actually something that's been happening for years before Biden, and it's probably why Trump is not going to get the credit he thinks he deserves on the economy. Most people I know under the age of about 35 or 40 gave up hope on having any kind of economic stability during the Trump administration or even earlier. It was actually under Trump that the cost of living exploded out of control to the point of being untenable. It was before COVID that a lot of people lost hope on home ownership, and then of course it got worse in 2020. I don't really care about groceries costing more, I care about having to make 60% more than the median household income in my area just to afford a house that isn't dilapidated. The right has no answer to this and it's why they will continue to fail.

Given the populist direction of the right, the best solution would be to go after corporations such as Blackrock who buying up houses en masse at well over the asking price.

Definitely, that'd be a huge winning issue.

[SnowLabrador]

It's not like this anywhere else.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Boehner when there were no Labor shortage refused to under Obama raise the minimum wage past 7.25 it was 10 now in a Pandemic Great Recession Environment the Businesses are hurting because of Labor shortage, and it's still at 7=25 an hr with Labor shortage now they are calling in work requirements on Food stamps